Fairy Tail: A Neverending Adventure
by Crescent Sunrise
Summary: The tale of Natsu and company told once again, but imagine if just a few simple changes occurred, how would the story we all know unfold? Possibly his age? Maybe a certain young woman taking a more active interest in his life? The future is a strange thing, fluid, changing. All it takes is one difference to make 'all' the difference. This... Is Fairy Tail!
1. Prologue

**A/N:This is my first story ever, so please bare with me and please, criticism. I want to be good at this and want to present very readable material, so lay on me! Also as a warning, I'm not expecting to be a fast updater. This will be my only warning in this fic.**

 **P.S. I also don't own Fairy Tail, all rights are exclusive to their owners and any descriptions or names of persons real is strictly coincidence. On with the tale!**

PROLOGUE

The Kingdom of Fiore… A neutral country of seventeen million people. It is a world of magic, magic is bought and sold every day. It is an integral part of people's lives. And there are those who use magic as their occupation. Those people are referred to as Wizards. These wizards belong to various guilds, and perform jobs upon commission. There are a large number of guilds within this country. And in a certain town lies a certain guild. A guild from which various legends were once born... or rather, will continue to be born long into the future… And its name is:

Fairy Tail!

July X777

We find ourselves in the beautiful town of Magnolia, it is a wonderful place filled with smiling faces and the laughter of children, it's here that we find a young teenager, no older than fifteen with salmon colored hair, wearing a red shirt, beige shorts and a white scarf with a pattern reminiscent of scales walking through town with a serious look on his face.

"Ugh! How am I gonna find Igneel? It's been like two weeks, and I still haven't found anything!" The boy continues to walk alongside the river that passes through the town. He comes to a bridge, deciding to cross. "I mean how hard is it to find a giant fire breathing dragon!?" Lost in his thoughts he doesn't realize that he reached the second largest building in Magnolia, a massive two story building. Looking up he notices the structure. _'Whoa… that's a pretty big house right there. What's that picture? Is that a… bird? Weird.'_

"Do fairies really have tails?"

"Ah!" The teen is startled by the question, looking to his side he realizes that a short old man with a staff, wearing an orange outfit and a funny cap with two spots sticking out like horns is just standing there, looking at the building. "Damn it old man! You scared the daylights outta me!"

The old man just laughs. "hahaha! Sorry young man. I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I only noticed that you were standing in front of the guild."

"This is a guild? And that thing you said, about the tails?"

"That's right." The old man gets a thoughtful look. "Do fairies really have tails? Do they even exist...? Like them this place as eternal mystery... A never ending adventure. That is my guild: Fairy Tail, and I am its Master."

The boy looks at the old man with a wide eyed look. "So you have magic? Me too! I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer."

The old man looks to the teen "I'm Makarov Dreyer, Third Master of Fairy Tail. And you have a very powerful, **Lost Magic.** "

"That's right, and when I'm strong enough I'll be able to find dad, Igneel the Fire Dragon" The now named Natsu flexes his arms with a big grin on his face.

Makarov gets another thoughtful look. "So you're trying to find your father. That's a worthy goal, but did you know that guild jobs could take you through many places? Maybe you'll find what you seek that way. But something I forgot to mention; about guilds, the most important thing I believe, Is that a guild is more than a simple job, it's somewhere to laugh with friends, make rivalries to push you further, or a place where you can cry when you're sad… A guild is a family. Tell me Natsu, would you like to join my guild?"

Natsu gets a serious look on his face, then he gives Makarov a massive grin. "Definitely!"

Makarov returns his grin. "Well let's go inside then."


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hello I have now updated the structure of the chapter so it will be more legible, looking back at I thought 'Oh wow, I wrote that?' None of the text has changed. On to the story!**_

CHAPTER ONE

July X777

She was bored. A fifteen year-old girl with long white hair set up in a high pony tail with two bangs framing her face going down to her chest, wearing an outfit most would describe as gothic, being a dark purple tank top that exposes her navel and a pair of black biker shorts with a demonic skull belt buckle. Here she was sitting at the bar of the guild hall, lying her head down on the counter with an extremely bored look on her face. She hadn't been on a job for a couple of days now and that damned Erza has been away on a job for just as long. So bottom line; boredom.

"Mira!"

The now named Mira looked to see the face of her little sister calling to her. "Hey Lisanna, what's up?" Wiping the bored look of her face. She always enjoyed the company of her little sister.

Lisanna, wearing her trade mark pink dress, with her blue eyes and white hair, same as her sister, except hers is much shorter, something akin to a bob-cut. With a big smile says "The Master is talking to a boy outside the guild!"

Mira gets a funny smile on her face. "What? Was it love at first sight?" She asks with a grin.

"No! That's not why I said that! I just wanted to talk that's all!" Her embarrassed blush getting deeper as she talks. "I think the Master was going to invite him to the guild."

That got Mira's attention. "Did you hear what kind of magic he had?" ' _Maybe I'll have someone to spar with until Erza gets back'_ thought the gothic girl _._

The young girl now has a sheepish look. "Well no, I was excited to tell you so I—"

Everyone in the guild hall turns as the doors are opened. Mira notes that it's Master Makarov but then she notices the boy with pink hair. ' _Huh? Must be the boy Liz was talking about.'_ She takes in his appearance, his red shirt and the fact he doesn't seem to have any gear on him. _'I've never seen around before in the two years Liz, Elfman and I have been here so he's not local, why doesn't have any gear?'_

"Listen up everyone!" Makarov says over the noise of the guild. "I want you to welcome our new member, Natsu Dragneel to Fairy Tail." Most everyone cheers out loudly for the young teen. "Come Natsu let's go get you your Mark." As the Master starts to walk to the bar.

Natsu starts following. "My Mark?" Makarov nods, "That's right, it show's as a way to others that you are a guild mage and for what guild you affiliate with."

The boy gets a confused look "What?"

Makarov chuckles to himself, "It means what guild you've taken the job for, so representing Fairy Tail while you work, do you understand?"

Natsu grins and nods. "Yep! I think so!"

As the duo reach the bar, Makarov sees who's there. "Ah, Mirajane! Could you grab the guild stamp and help Natsu please? And hello little Lisanna, how are you today?"

As Mira mumbles a 'Sure, whatever' Lisanna beams at Makarov. "I'm doing great Master! I've been working on my **Take-Over Magic** and its going good. I'm still nowhere near as good as big sis though." She looks to her sister as the teen returns with the stamp.

"Alright Pinky, where do you want it?" Mira says with a bored tone.

'Pinky' scrunches up his face. "Hey! My name is Natsu, not Pinky!"

"Yep. But I don't really care. So where do want the Mark or do I have to that for you too?" She says with the same bored look and tone.

"Miri! That's not nice! Apologize to him!" This coming from the younger Strauss sibling.

"I'll apologize when he gets his Mark and beats me, until then I think Pinky suits him fine." The eldest Strauss girl replies.

Before Makarov could say anything the pink-haired boy replies. "Fine! I want it right here and I want it red!" As he points to his right bicep. "Then I'm gonna show you!"

Now the foursome had the attention of the entire guild hearing this kid just walking into the guild was gonna be taking on one the strongest prospects of her generation, and a likely S-Class Mage Candidate this year. "Well this could be interesting. What do you think Wakaba?" says a man who looks to be in his late twenties or very early thirties.

"I'm not holding my breath for the kid Macao, he seems a bit scatter-brained if you ask me." Says a man of similar age with a cigarette in his mouth. The pair look on to see how things progress. Seeing Mira place the Mark where he asked for it they start speaking.

Mira grins "Sounds like fun, Pinky."

Natsu grits his teeth "I'm gonna beat you and then you'll have to acknowledge me! Just you wait!" Mira turns to what must be the backdoor of the guild hall. "Well I'm not getting any younger Pinky."

As Macao and Wakaba watch the two exit the hall the y both think to themselves _'Yep. He's gonna fit in here like a duck to water.'_ As they stand with many others interesting in seeing this file outside to watch the slaught— spar that's about to take place.

~~NMNM~~

About five minutes later everyone interested in watch the spar has filed outside behind the hall to the beach of the lake, the unofficial sparring grounds of Fairy Tail.

"So Pinky, what kinda **Magic** do you use?" With an 'I'm gonna cream you but I'm curious anyways' look.

"I think I'll keep that to myself for a bit thanks." Many in the crowd are thinking that he at least has some battle-sense to hide his abilities until he has to actually use them.

Mira frowns. _'Hmm, I thought he'd say something, points to him… for now.'_ "Well come and get me Pinky." Doing a 'come at me' gesture.

"I'm all fired up!" and with that Natsu charges Mira in a dead sprint, trying to get in close.

Mira see's this, _'hand-to-hand then? Fine with me.'_ Mira gets into a fighting stance and waits for him to close in.

As Natsu closes in he grins, his hands are engulfed in a bright orange-yellow flame as he goes in for a straight punch. And is laid out with an over the shoulder throw.

"I really hope that's not all you have **Fire Mage** , I want to have some fun."

Natsu is laying on his back _'Damn, she's pretty good._ _Better bring out the big guns_.' Natsu flips up to his feet and faces Mirajane. "I hope that, that isn't all _you_ got, cause it's time for the big guns!"

Mira gets a serious look on her face, and everyone notices.

Natsu then takes a massive breath as his gut expands beyond human levels, he bellows, **"Fire Dragon's Roar!"** As the words leave his lips everyone—even Mira's eyes widen at the name of the technique. Then the massive gout of flame flies toward Mira and engulfs her. The audience jaws go slack as they see this.

As Natsu lets down his flames, he becomes worried _'I hope I didn't hurt her too badly… or worse.'_

His worries are unfounded as a clawed green fist hits him in the face, through his flames. He is thrown back by the force and doesn't get up. There Mira looking like something akin to a child's nightmare, stands in a one piece body suit that resembles a swimming suit except for the fact most of her front is exposed, barely kept modest, her legs are covered in a similar material as her upper body, starting from high heeled boots going up to mid-thigh, her forearms have taken on the appearance of large green clawed hands, large bat like wings having grown from her back and below that is a large tail above her backside, her hair and face have also taken a more feral but still beautiful state, wild unkempt hair, large elf-like ears, and what appears to be crack going down the left side of her face. "Well… Now you have my attention, well _had_ my attention." Mira says as she looks to the downed Dragon Slayer. As she turns to walk away his next words hit her ears.

"You're not getting off that easy Mirajane. It'll take more that to keep me down!"

She turns to face again, honestly surprised he managed to stand after that first hit. _'Well, there more than meets the eye with him… and he's pretty cute too—wait what?'_ Lost in thought she doesn't dodge the next hit, **"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"** as Natsu launches her across the beach.

Again, the audience is flabbergasted. Not only did this kid get up from a hit from 'The Demon' Mirajane as her moniker goes, but he's managed to hit her, _twice!_ Then there is a large blast of magic coming from where Mira landed raising a cloud of dust, she is seen stalking out of the cloud. "Alright! My attention is kept! Time to end this!" She then charges, flying low to the ground.

Natsu tries to intercept her, **"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"** he pin wheels his arms, as if holding a whip in each hand as pillars of flame crash towards Mira. Mira though, evades these flames, and with incredible speed, ends up behind the dragon Slayer.

"It's over. **Dark Palm!** " Mira then lands a powerful **Darkness Magic** enhanced punch to the back of the teens head.

Natsu is thrown forward by the punch and is knocked unconscious.

Mirajane deactivates her **Magic** as she walks back to the guild. As a couple of guild mates see to Natsu, Mira has one thought going through her head. _'Much more than meets the eye indeed.'_

 _~~NMNM~~_

' _Ouch.'_ That was the first thought of Natsu Dragneel as he looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling.

"Don't try to get up now, you took a pretty rough blow to the head." Came the voice of a young girl.

Natsu opened his eyes to look to the sound of the voice, and saw three children two of them about three or four years younger if he were to guess, a boy and a girl, he recognizes the one closer to his age as the one who told Mira to apologize to him, the other girl is a brunette wearing an orange dress with spaghetti straps and a pouch of some kind hanging across her shoulder, the last one, a boy, he was wearing… boxers… That's it.

"Gray, your clothes." Says the brunette.

Gray looks at himself and says loudly, "How does this keep happening!" Said boy runs from the room, likely looking for said clothes.

The brunette speaks to Natsu again "Hi, I'm Cana Alberona. It's nice to meet you finally."

The white haired girl says next "And I'm Lisanna Strauss, My sister is the person who knocked you out." She says a little timidly.

Scratching his forehead, Natsu realizes there is bandage around his head. "Well, I'm Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet you!"

The girls smile at him then as Lisanna is about to speak, a boys voice comes up. "I'm Gray. And you're that idiot that picked a fight with one of the strongest girls in the guild." The guy, already annoying Natsu says, "And then you lost and got yourself knocked out for day." Clapping his hands now, "Good job."

"Hey, what's the big idea, Stripper!?" Natsu now annoyed by the kid with spiky blue hair wearing pants and a necklace, showing off the Guild Mark on his left pectoral. "I just wanted her to acknowledge me! What's the problem with that?"

Gray just turns to leave. "Nothing at all flame-brain, nothing at all." Then he's gone.

"Don't be mad at Gray please, he's probably mad that the last time he and my sister fought, she beat him before having to use her **Satan Soul.** "

Natsu nods, "I suppose that would do it, but he's still being a jerk about it." He then slaps himself on both cheeks and jumps out of the bed "Alright! I'm ready for round two!"

The girls look at him in shock. "Are you crazy!" they both say, "You just woke up, get some training in before you let her crush you again!" Cana ends the statement.

Natsu looks at them, a little confused. "…I thought that's what I was doing? Can't get stronger unless I beat someone stronger than me!"

The girls just look at him. _'He's nuts, bonkers, crazy.'_ Both girls thinks at the same time. "Well it was nice to meet you two, see ya later!" And the he was gone.

Lisanna looks to Cana "He's gonna die isn't he?"

Cana just pulls her cards from her container and sits on the floor. "Well… one way to find out, take a seat Liz."

~~NMNM~~

Natsu left the room he was in to find Mirajane. Going down the short hallway, he finds himself in the Guild Hall. Looking around he sees Mirajane sitting where she was the first time that they met. Walking towards the bar more and more people notice that he is awake and bee-lining for Mira. _'Is he crazy or something?'_ Everyone who took the time to look thought.

' _Wonder how Pinky is doing? Maybe I'll check on again when no one's looking. I can't have people thinking that I've gotten soft on the punk or something. Still… He did better than I thought he would have, not much of a challenge but I still had to use_ _ **Satan Soul**_ _to protect myself. That says_ something _about his strength, but still… He's got a ways to go before I go all out on him.'_

"What are you thinking about Mira? You seem really deep in thought."

Mira is jolted out of her thoughts by Master Makarov's voice. "It's nothing Master." Mira lied. Though Makarov see's right through it.

"So you're thinking about Natsu then." It was a statement.

Mira, blushing says "I was not!" _'Why the hell am I blushing about this?'_

Makarov nods, like he believes her. "Of course, it is understandable, some random boy shows up and you have use more than the bare minimum to put him down. This line of thought doesn't really surprise me."

"Master! I don't know wh—"

"Fight me Mira!"

Mira stops what she was saying to turn around in her stool. There he is. Just standing there demanding she fight him, like he didn't just wake up from a major beat down. _'He can't be serious… I don't believe it, he's serious.'_

"Pass."

Natsu proceeds to face fault. "What the Hell do you mean 'Pass!'?" Standing up and looking her straight in the eyes.

Mira quirks an eyebrow, because she is now confused _'He isn't scared shitless, he really wants to fight me again. He's not afraid of me…'_ "Why not take a job or two? Get a little stronger, try again after that, kid" Mira turns in her stool once again. Trying to ignore the Slayer.

Seeing that she's not in the mood, he looks around and sees a large board filled with sheets of paper. Looking across it in what most think is confusion, he grabs the most dangerous highest paying job on the board, and returns to Master Makarov to claim it. "I want this one old man!" Ignoring the 'old man' jibe, Makarov looks at the request.

 _ **Guild Request**_

 _ **Monster Troubles coming from Mt. Hakobe**_

 _ **Large group of monsters terrorizing the citizens of multiple settlements in the surrounding areas of the mountain. We request the elimination of these creatures, or alternative means of removal. More accurate information will be given upon arrival at Claireview Town, west of Oshibana Town.**_

 _ **REWARD: 150,000 JEWELS**_

 _ **Approved and Stamped by the Magic Council**_

Makarov gets a serious look "Are you sure you wouldn't like to try an easier job first? Or maybe ask for help? This is pretty serious for your first job."

Mira looks at the job Natsu just tried to take. "Man, did you even read what the request was, or did you look at the reward and monster on the page?" Looking to Natsu for a reply.

He turns his head with a blush and mumbles "Yeah, sorta."

Mira looks at Natsu for a moment, realization dawns on her and says a bit quieter, sure only the Master could hear. "You don't how to read do you?"

He finally looks back, snatching the request saying "Of course I can! Dad taught me letters, words and numbers, I just have trouble getting the bigger ones sometimes." He tapers off quietly.

Mira looks to the Master, he shrugs not really sure where to go with this, so Mira continues. "You're not going on a job if you can't even read the request. You need to know what you're walking into or it could get you hurt or worse." _'Why do I even care? It's not my problem.'_ "So I'll make you a deal, you learn your words, and I'll spar with you. _'What did I say? No I won't.'_ "Deal?"

"Hell Yeah!" He cheers.

' _What the hell did I get myself into?'_ Is all Mira can think.

~~NMNM~~

August X777

So for the next three weeks Natsu and Mira have been going off to the forest, with Mira teaching him a proper vocabulary and to spar. The Strauss girl was initially surprised that he had trouble reading despite his age, though after the first week she realized that it wasn't a lack of mental ability, it was a lack of drive. So it seemed ' _The Demon'_ gave him all the drive he required. It would go like this almost every day, Mira not even having much time to rag on Erza, even though she returned just the day after the agreement. To say the least, the entirety of the guild was surprised. Why was _Mirajane_ of all people volunteering herself to tutor the Dragon Slayer? It was in fact and still is a topic of discussion, though none but Erza or the Master would ever make mention of it to her face, lest they feel her demonic wrath. In this time the Dragon Slayer was finally able to start taking requests, with Mira's approval that he could actually read the requests he wanted. Natsu and Gray had developed a silly rivalry, given the age gap, just as violent as Erza and Mira, though Erza would 'discipline' the duo on their actions, being the hypocritical person she tends to be in anything but a serious situation. Most hoped that Gray would be able to close the power gap given a few years to develop and catch up. Though much to her chagrin, the worst thing in her opinion, was the rumors of her and the pink-haired boy being in some relationship.

Here we see our resident goth girl waking down the streets of Magnolia, carrying the groceries for tonight supper to the home of the **Take-Over Siblings** , _'Stupid Pinky, it's all his fault that these damn rumors are going around, And more so he doesn't even get it! Whatever. I just have to ignore him now, I did more than I ever should have for the charcoal head. Then hopefully the rumors will go away.'_ Her thoughts are cut off as she arrives at the nice two-story house the three siblings are now renting. Mira smiles to herself. _'Mom, Dad, I hope you know that we're doing alright now. I'm doing my best to take care of these brats, well, I wish Elfman would be a bit brattier. He's too soft spoken as it is. Oh well, day by day I guess.'_ She opens the door to the home. "Alright you brats! Who's helping me make dinner and who's washing up after? I want to get things started before it gets—. She cuts herself short seeing a familiar mop of pink hair in her living room. "What the Hell are you doing in our house Pinky?!" 'Pinky' turns to say something but gets cut off.

"I invited him for supper sis." Mira sees that the culprit is Lisanna.

"Why?" is all that Mira need say.

"Because I was talking to Natsu earlier and…"

" _Hey Natsu, I'm curious, why are you always eating in the guild?" Lisanna sits on a stool at the bar waiting for a reply._

" _Well, I like the food here." He states. "And it's cheaper to eat here." He adds as an afterthought._

" _Here? You mean other restaurants? I meant why don't you eat at home more often?" Lisanna specifies._

" _Well, I don't know how to cook very good." He says while scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Gray decides to put a word in._

" _First you can't read, now you can't cook, what's next? Forgetting how to use the toilet? I don't think Mira will help you with that one." Gray says counting out his fingers._

" _Gray, your clothes." Cana joins in._

" _Gah! How? Why?!" Gray holds his head in exasperation,_

 _Natsu laughs, "Says the kid who never learned to keep his clothes on!"_

" _Shut it charcoal breath!"_

" _Stripper!"_

" _Flame brain!"_

" _Ice brain!"_

" _Think of your own insults Pyro!"_

" _You wanna go!"_

" _Yeah!"_

" _Bring it!"_

 _*SMACK! BASH! BONK!*_

 _A red headed girl wearing an armored chest piece, pauldrons' with a knee length skirt and sword strapped to her hip looking down at the two boys who were just in each other's faces. "That's enough out of the both of you! Quit acting like children!"_

 _The boys look up at her, "We'll beat you one day Erza!"_

 _The now Identified Erza huffs and walks off, "Maybe someday, but not today. So stop fighting." And with that she's off to another part of the guild._

 _Lisanna walks over "You two okay?" she asks with concern in her voice._

" _Yeah, we're used to that by now." Gray says as he gets up to walk away, "See ya Liz, Pyro!"_

 _Natsu looks up, "Stripper!"_

 _Goodbyes said Lisanna asks again, "So you don't make any of your own meals?"_

 _Natsu gets up rubbing the new bump on his head, "No not really I usually burn it, well, more than I like it burned." He says. "Is it me or is Erza just a bit too strong for her age? Damn she hits hard." Getting off track while rubbing his new bump._

 _Lisanna frowns at him, "Alright that settles it, you're coming over for supper tonight and are learning to cook." The words are said with as much force and finality that a thirteen year-old girl can possess._

 _The most intelligent answer that Natsu can come to in this situation is, "Huh?"_

"… And now we're here!" says Lisanna as she finishes her story of what happened today.

"Lisanna." the eldest Strauss sibling groans out.

"Please don't be upset with her, I think it's a good idea. A man should be able to fend for himself after all." Comes a soft spoken reply from the stairwell. Looking over everyone sees a tall boy for his age, almost a head taller than Natsu, with short messy white hair, a calm face and wearing an outfit that looks something like a private school outfit, being a blue blazer and dress shorts.

"Ugh, Not you too Elfman." Mira groans again. The youngest Strauss strikes,

"Come sis! You helped Natsu with his reading and writing, and it's not like you won't have help, we'll all pitch in. Right big brother?"

The teen smiles "Of course little Liz." The little girl blushes at the pet name. The middle child looking to his eldest sibling,

"So how about you and Lisanna help Natsu tonight, while I wash up with him afterwards? Then I'll help you tomorrow while Lisanna takes my place. How's that sound?"

Looking between her traitorous siblings as they bombard her with questions, knowing about those damn rumors too! Still holding the groceries for tonight, she hunches over, looking between the two Strauss' "I hate you both."

They just smile at her.

"Fine! Pinky, Liz, we're making curry tonight, into the kitchen you two. Elfman, you set the table." Looking at everyone jump to their tasks she thinks, _'Damn… It's only going to get worse from here isn't it?'_

 _ **A/N: Please tell me what you think of it. I am always looing to improve. Love it, hate it, all I want to know is 'why' that is. Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **CS.**_


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

August X777

"I said I was sorry."

Here we see two people walking the streets of Magnolia Town, Mirajane and Natsu, the former, arms crossed over her chest as she walked bearing an agitated frown, the latter taking side-long glances with an expression of nervousness. Though strangely the pink-haired teen was wearing one of Elfman's shirts.

The night had not gone well if one were to ask Mirajane Strauss. Much to her chagrin the rest of the houses occupants and guest thought the night hilarious, so much that even with her demanding the pink haired menace never set foot in their home again; she ended up outnumbered and crushed by the teary eyed pout of her youngest sibling.

' _And why the Hell am I with thi_ s _guy?'_ looking at him as for the umpteenth time he has apologized for the _incident_ that had happened the night before. The evening had started pretty well honestly, Lisanna asking about Natsu's dragon father and whatever else she could think of at the time. Sadly this had distracted the **Slayer** from his task which was to mix the curry sauce before adding it to the rest of the cooking ingredients. Turning to reply to the young girl he stumbled and lost his hold of the sauce pan, sending it flying… right at ' _The Demon'_. Aside from her; everyone present was laughing at the sight of the pan sitting atop her head at an odd angle, until she regained her senses that is. Next came the cries of pain from Natsu and the pleading of Lisanna for Mirajane to stop, which she did… eventually.

Quickly rinsing while the two others made a new batch of sauce. With the now finished meal ready to be eaten, Mira politely (not really) asked that Natsu take the first bite to be sure that with his help the food was still edible, taking a healthy bite and proclaiming its great flavor Mira takes the next bite. Leading to the reason the two are walking around town together now.

While cleaning up from the first accident, Lisanna failed to see just how much spice the **Fire** user put in the sauce. Being who he was the amount he used wasn't an issue for him, everyone else was a different story. Stopping the other two from eating as her face absolutely glows red she runs for the kitchen to almost tear the door from the fridge to get the jug of milk and begins to chug. Again the sight is utterly hilarious until the eldest Strauss has gained her bearings she sets her sights on Natsu showing no mercy.

During the struggle she eviscerated the teen's shirt, which he later revealed was the only one he had. Which led to now. Lisanna felt that on top of having him over almost every evening, that it was now Mira's responsibility to help Natsu get some new clothes and help pay for them as well!

' _I love that girl so much but sometimes she just drives me up the wall! It's not my fault! Pinky made me mad! I just want this to be over with, then I can just go to the guild, grab a job, and beat someone up… Maybe Erza, yeah that'll be nice.'_

"Mira?"

Getting pulled from her thoughts she looks at Natsu, "What?" she says in a somewhat snarky tone.

"Are you still mad about yesterday?" he says, looking her in the eye.

About to reply with a rude comment she notices something, Natsu has a worried look in his eyes. _'Is he really that worried about me being mad at him?'_

Closing her eyes for a moment then sighing she replies, "No, no I'm not angry okay?" looking him in the eye to convey that she meant what she said. _'Why wouldn't I be mad? He dumped curry sauce on my head!'_

"I'm glad, I was worried since you're my first friend and all. I didn't want you mad at me." He says like its nothing at all.

' _What did he say?_ ' looking back at him sharply she says, "You want to be my friend?" with a surprised look on her face.

He seems confused, "Well, you helped me with my reading and writing, and you spar with me a lot which is awesome! Even if you beat me up all the time, I'm still gonna beat you one day! Still, I'm really grateful." All this said with a smile on his face, "we are friends right?"

Having gone a little red from Natsu's statements she looks away, "Yeah sure, whatever, we're friends. Now hurry up! I want to get this over with so I can go back to the guild hall!" speeding up towards one of the many clothing stores in town.

~~NMNM~~

Opening the door to clothing store that caters to Wizard's needs, Mira is first to walk in, looking around she sees a clerk, a man behind the counter. "Come on Pinky, let's get this over with." As she walks to the counter, not waiting to see if he heard her. Addressing the clerk when she gets close enough, "Hey, I'm looking for some clothes for my friend here," thumbing behind herself. Looking back to make sure he's there she sees him fiddling with a tacky looking shirt, "Preferably fire-proofed or resistant at least" she adds as an afterthought.

"Hmm, I don't know how much we have for fire-proof, being generally destructive as it is." The clerk says to himself, "Let me check 'round back for a minute." Excusing himself, going through a backdoor.

Mira takes the time to give the store a once over now that she is just waiting. It's a very general layout, small store, clothing along the outer walls, left for men, right for women and going till they both connect near the center of the store, shirts, pants and other such things on spinning racking for convenience. She sees Natsu glancing through the pants picking out a couple pairs of the same type of short pants, nodding and grinning as he does so.

"Excuse me Miss Strauss." Says the clerk after returning.

"Ugh, Just Mirajane fine buddy. I'm no 'miss'. You find something for the pyro over there?" She asks.

"Not much I'm afraid," shaking his head showing her what he found, "A simple vest and waistcoat combination, though they are durable and fire-resistant as part of their manufacture." He states.

Nodding to herself, looking at the black gold trimmed outfit, "Hey Pinky, come over here, what do you think of these?

Grumbling as he heads over, "Dammit stop calling me Pinky." Looking at what the guy has he gets a sparkly eyed look, "Oh, those awesome! Looks like I'm all set!"

Mira gives him a stare, noticing something. "You didn't grab any shirts."

"Nah, I get kinda warm sometimes, that vest is gonna be perfect! Couple sets of those," pointing at the clerks hands, "and I'm good." Nodding to himself.

"Whatever, you can tell that to Lisanna if she gets all pouty that I didn't do what she asked then."

Paying for the clothing and letting Natsu change they're on their way back to the Strauss home when Natsu starts up again. "I wanna test these out, fight me Mira!" Giving her an excited look.

"You just got those and you wanna wreck them? Come on, Liz will talk my ear off as is, come on, we'll fight later." Walking away ending the discussion. _'Besides those clothes don't look half bad, at least keep hem goo for a day or two.'_ She adds silently to herself.

"Come on!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Fight me!"

*whack*

"There. We fought. I won." Leaving Natsu on the ground with an impressive goose egg on his noggin, she berates herself, _'And I just told myself that I'd keep his clothes clean and nice for at least a day! Gods, I'm never going to hear the end of this from Lisanna.'_ Sighing she goes to meet her fate.

 _ **A/N: Just some vet minor changes done here. Again, thanks for reading and tell me what you think!**_

 _ **CS.**_


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

December X777

"Alright everyone! It is that time of the year once again!" Makarov Dreyer, Master of Fairy Tail bellows.

The boisterous goings on cease as the guild now pays very close attention to what is being said. Natsu, sitting at a table with a number of the younger guild members looks around in confusion. Elfman, noticing the look quietly speaks, "I guess no one's told you, around this time of the year, the master chooses a number of Wizards he deems ready to become S-Class wizards, based on how many missions they've done, their success rate and his own opinion."

Thinking about it Natsu realizes that some of the members have been more active since the end of Magnolia's yearly event, the Fantasia Parade. Recalling the parade with fond memories, and the time after that people like Mira or Laxus have been coming and going from the guild much more often, not having a lot of time to spar or hang out, or just trying to ignore people, Mira being the former, Laxus the latter. Makarov begins to speak taking Natsu from his musings.

"It is time for the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trials." Looking around the room, Makarov gives the guild hall and its members a serious gaze. "I look at this hall and I see many fine wizards, all that I am proud to have among our family. All who have strived to be the best they are able. Couldn't be happier." Many around the hall give small smiles and quiet but true cheers, "Though among you there are those who have strived to prove themselves, to be examples for other members who can be proud to bear our Mark. Only two of proven themselves to take on this honor, and this burden. Mirajane Strauss! Laxus Dreyar, you both have the capacity to lead as exemplars of our guild. Now you must prepare, we will be leaving for the Trial in the morning, there we will be meeting with the only other S-Class wizard in the guild, and he will be there to help with your Trial. Rest well, and I wish you all the best."

With those parting words the guild begins an impressive celebration to send off the guilds S-Class potentials, Laxus deciding to go and sit with his team, three others who like to call themselves The Thunder God Tribe, while Lisanna practically dragged Mira to her table with Natsu, Elfman, Gray, and Cana. "I'm so happy that you were chosen for the Trials Mira!" squealed her younger sister.

Getting congratulations all around the table except from Natsu, everyone else at the table seemed to notice the Dragon Slayer had a thoughtful look on his face. Mira decided to make herself known. "What? Jealous that you didn't get picked as well or something?"

He doesn't answer immediately, lost in his thoughts, more specifically of when he had just joined the guild and Mira had volunteered her time to teach and train him…

~~NMNM~~

 _July X777_

 _Natsu was once again thrown halfway across the field in which Mirajane Strauss, '_ The Demon _' of Fairy Tail had chosen to train him in. It had only been maybe a week and a half, yet Natsu was still unable to make any sort of headway in fighting the young woman. Time and time again they'd start a spar, though barely a few seconds was all it took for Mira to put him on the ground. It was becoming frustrating. And he decided to make that known._

" _Damn it! How are you so good? I haven't been able to hit you_ once _since that first fight, how the Hell are you so good?" the frustrated Slayer reiterated._

 _Said girl looked at her sparring partner with a contemplative look on her face, seconds stretched by and it appeared she wouldn't answer, he was going to ask again, but that was when she replied, "Are you sure you want to hear my answer? Cause if you do then we are done fighting and it's on to more complicated words for the rest of the day."_

 _Now on the one hand Natsu would get his answer, which would mean more detestable school work— '_ detestable? That's a word I wouldn't usually use, maybe this is working?'— _though on the other, there was less vocabulary courses, but he's still getting thrashed anyways._

" _Just tell me already!" Coming to the decision that at least he might start making some headway in their future spars._

 _Giving him a firm look she answers, "You are a terrible fighter." Is her short, to the point reply._

 _Not giving him an opening, she continues, "You wanted to know how you hit me? It's because I underestimated you. I didn't take you at all seriously. But you had all this power and I let my experience go to my head, it will not happen again. Like I said, you got some power, but you have almost zero experience channeling it against an opponent it seems." Taking a deep breath closing her eyes for a moment, she looks him in the eye, and begins walking toward him. "So until you can learn to use this," Poking him in the forehead, "with this," Poking him in the chest, "You'll never beat me."_

 _Natsu has a flabbergasted look on his face the entire time she speaks, once she's done, she patiently waits for his reply. Looking to the ground, expression morphing to something more thoughtful, he looks her in the eye. Expression firm, he gives her one solid nod. Nodding in return she turns away from._

 _She stops when he begins to speak, "I'm not sure I understand what you mean, you can be a little confusing sometimes," chuckling to himself for second he continues, "But I am gonna do my best to get what you're saying, and become strong enough to beat you." Pouting to himself he quietly says, "Cause I want you to stop calling me Pinky!"_

 _Standing a little ways away from the salmon haired teen, Mira stands quietly, seemingly thinking of a reply to his words._

" _Just remember," she starts up suddenly, "you are part of a family now, just like the Master always says. One day, just like me, you may have to protect your family. We don't let our family down in Fairy Tail._

 _Now Natsu wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of family, he had his father Igneel, but until then it hadn't quite sunk in that, that was what he had here: A family. Thinking of the small old man who took him in without a second thought, the cheers from the guild when they were told that he'd be joining, and the assistance from Mirajane herself. Everything he'd heard thus far would say she'd never do this for anyone except her flesh and blood siblings, yet here she was in the forest teaching him life skills that he should've paid more attention to when his father had done the same. Looking at the back of the young woman, Natsu couldn't help but notice the girl was coming into her body, the developing curves, the way her hair falls around her shoulders, he wasn't sure why but he didn't mind just watching her. His heart seemed to be beating faster than expected, even though he had just finished a spar, maybe it was a tougher fight than he had thought?_

 _She turned to look back at him after a few moments, "Well, come on! Time to hit the books Pinky!_

" _Gah! Come on!" completely forgetting the agreement they made not even five minutes before…_

 _~~NMNM~~_

December X777

' _I think I understand now, but I need to be sure.'_ Setting his face in a determined expression, he looked Mira in the eye. "Meet me out on the beach." Standing up he walked out the backdoor, while everyone else had a perplexed look on their faces.

"What the heck was that about?" Gray asks, looking to for an answer from someone.

"I'm not sure honestly," Mira says walking towards the door, "but I plan to find out."

Unnoticed by the group Makarov had a contemplative look as he watched both Natsu and Mira leave the hall. ' _Have you found your fire child? We shall see soon.'_

Unknown to Mira and Natsu, Makarov had followed them a number of times during those educational meetings in the forest, happening upon the very conversation Natsu was just silently contemplating, after hearing those words he never followed them again. Confidant that Mira was doing right by the young man, proud of her for the lessons she had chosen to pass on. Very much like he had done for her when she was lost in her own mind… But that is neither here nor there, time to make sure that neither 'The Demon' nor the Slayer destroy too much stuff!

~~NMNM~~

Walking out the door Mira could see Natsu staring out across the lake behind Magnolia, hands crossed on his chest. _'What's your game Pinky? What's so important that you need to do this now?'_ As Mira closed the gap Natsu turned to look at Mira with that determined look still on his face.

"Fight with me Mirajane."

The girl was a little surprised since the teen rarely ever used her full name anymore, almost always using the short hand version, emphasizing his seriousness with the full usage. "Why?"

"I'll tell you when were done here." Walking a small distance back getting into his combat ready stance, knees bent, wide stance, arms up in a loose brawler set. He was serious.

"What's gotten into you? You know you can't beat me, not yet. So let's go have back inside and have some fun with everyone." She tries to reason. _'Seriously what's with the mental switch?'_

"Doesn't matter. But I have to know something, so get ready cause I'm coming ready or not Mira." His hands burst to life with his brilliant orange-red flames, dancing across his fists, placing him in a near ethereal light, adding to his ruggedly handsome features.

' _Wait what? Why am I looking at him like that?'_ Light blush dusting Mira's cheeks, she almost failed to back up from Natsu's assault. The few months of sparring with a competent opponent had done wonders for Slayer's combat prowess, less wasted movement, more controlled punches, kicks and grapples; when he could land one _'He's gotten better. Defiantly'_. Realizing the stumble for what it was, Natsu kept the momentum up in hopes to land a decent blow while 'The Demon' was off balance and unable to use her Take-Over magic in the close quarters. Throwing flame enhanced punches and kicks, he lost his footing in some of the sand, breaking his tempo. Giving Mira her opening, _'but not good enough.'_

Taking hold of his arm, the punch going wide from his overzealous slip up, risking the burn she performed the same shoulder throw from all those months ago. What she didn't expect was Natsu's instant recovery. _'A feint!?'_ going over her shoulder, Natsu used his flexibility to land on his feet, twisting in such a way to break her hold reversing their positions, while extinguishing the flame on his arms. With a feat of strength, he launched the girl into the air, chest ballooning with his signature technique, Fire Dragon's Roar! The gout of flame flew through the sky to Mira, entirely exposed to the attack. Arms crossed over her chest as the flames washed over her.

Technique ended, Natsu leaped back immediately, barely avoiding the blast of Darkness based magic blasting through his flames impacting the ground. Reigniting his arms he manages a cross guard against the Satan Soul's punch, **"Dark Palm!"** A shockwave from the impact occurs, creating a cloud of dust and knocking Natsu back in an improvised roll keep his footing from the launch.

Small, fast shots of Dark energy fly through the cloud missing or easily blocked by the pink haired teen. Coming around the dust cloud, over the water, taking no time for idle banter in this fight Mira continues her barrage with her advantage of range over Natsu. Well, perceived advantage. Taking the shots as best he can, Natsu waits for a gap in the attack, **"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"** Pillars of flame connected to his arms extend over the water, being dodged easily by the flying opponent. _'Why do I need to be strong? It's to find Igneel, but is there another reason? Why does my hearty race whenever I look at her?'_ Thinking of the girl he's currently trying to bring down from the sky,

After her aerial maneuvers Mira hovers to charge a finishing move to the exposed boy, focusing on him she failed to notice the flames hadn't dissipated as normal, cluing in too late that Natsu's hands are still alight with the ability. Watching him bring his arms together in a clap motion the flames encircle her like a whip, though the flames do not burn her. _'What?'_

Reeling his arms as if he was pulling a rope he flings Mira with a roar of effort at the beach side, dragging her through the water and sand leaving a small trench, dust billowing. As his flame whips dissipate, he charges the impact zone hoping to land the final strike, his **Fire Dragon's Iron fist!** Going in for the hit, his hand becomes uncomfortably incased in a larger fist. Dust dissipating he throws his other hand only to have it trapped as well. As the air clears both combatants see their winded adversary.

"Well, color me impressed Pinky; that was pretty damn good! Giving him a Cheshire grin, "But not good enough." Dragging him in she head-butts him, then gives him a knee to his stomach, letting go of his hands they reflexively cover his mid-section, closing her hands together she raises them above his head, bring them down for a massive hit, planting him face first in the ground. Deactivating her magic, she finally takes notice of the impromptu audience that their 'spar' had garnered.

Rolling onto his back Natsu lets out a cough and gasps of air, starting a round of applause from the gathered guild members.

"Great job Natsu!"

"Whoa yeah!"

"You two were awesome!"

Many more congratulations were doled out from the other members as Natsu lay there and Mira stood victor. Looking down Mira could see the pink haired boy struggling to rise, so walking to his front see leaned down to take his hand, lifting him up. As he began to stand he lost his balance falling back again, but taking Mira with him, with a small gasp Mira landed astride Natsu hands going out to either side of his face to keep from face planting. Nary a few inches between their faces they both continue to take deep breaths from the previous exertion, looking into each other's eyes.

' _Whoa, Mira's eyes are… wow.'_

' _It feels like he's looking right through me, his eyes are so dark'_ unconsciously moving closer, leaning in to his face…

"Mira are you okay?" The innocent question from her youngest sibling snaps her back reality, remembering that they have a _very_ engrossed audience.

Shooting to her feet, "I'm fine." Is all she can say before she's speeding off as fast is dignified… at least she hopes so.

Though when both fighters went home that night, they slept well, unable to get the eyes of the other out of their dreams…

~~NMNM~~

Bags packed, Mira stood with Laxus and Master Makarov. Throwing bags into the back, getting ready to load into the magicmoblie that would take them to the rendezvous with Gildarts, the S-Class wizard who would help decide the next to become S-Class.

"Mira!"

Said girl turned to see that her siblings were coming to see her off, she had left a little early that morning not wanting have a heartfelt goodbye. _'It's not like I was going to be gone long, geez those two are ridiculous sometimes.'_ Moving to give them the goodbyes that they wanted she noticed that Natsu was with them also, just hanging back a bit, hands clasped behind his head.

Finishing her goodbyes to her siblings, she approached the pink-haired teen, "Hey."

"Hey." Was his response.

"You never told me what that fight last night was about you know." Trying to fish for answers.

Natsu looked away for a moment, a light blush dusting his cheeks, _'What's with the blush?'_

"I needed to see how strong I was compared to you." He said.

"I figured as much Pinky, but _why?_ "

"Because… if I can at least match you in a fight, it means I can do the same missions as you."

Mira just gives him a look, "What the Hell does that mean? We've gone on jobs before."

"Yeah, but you're gonna be S-Class when you come back. If I'm not strong enough, then I can't go with you." His blush has intensified.

"What?"

"If I can't go on those jobs with you it means I can't be there to protect you." He finally blurts out quietly. "We're family, like you told me in training. If I'm not strong enough, I can't protect my family."

Mira knows that she's blushing now. "Um, uh… Thanks I guess. But I might not even end up being S-Class Natsu, Laxus could be chosen too you know." She stammers.

Natsus' eyes go wide, "What?"

"Laxus. He could ge—"

"No! You said my name!" The Slayer states, pointing a finger at her.

She did she realizes, she actually can't remember if she had ever said his name before then. For some reason that upset her and she couldn't understand why. "Well, don't get used to it Pinky!" she says, trying to save face. Turning to the magicmoblie, she waived behind herself, "Catch ya later Pinky!"

Jumping in the vehicle, the three people left shortly thereafter, Makarov driving them to their location. During the entire trip though, Mira couldn't get a certain pink-haired wizard out of her mind, or the look that he had given her the night before and as she was about to depart. Chest thumping heavily at the thought of him she began to grow concerned, _'What is this? Am I… interested in him?'_ She thought back to the night before, as she had leaned in toward his face, _'Oh my God, I was going to kiss him!'_ she realized.

Not sure how to deal with these feelings, she did her best to bury them for now and think about it after she returned to the guild. Hopefully as an S-Class wizard….

 _ **A/N Hey all! I know it's been quite a while now since I updated this story, but I guess I just wanted to know that I hadn't abandoned the story, just been busy with other projects. Also, for returning readers I have overhauled the structure of my previous chapters in hopes that they are simpler to read. So tell me if you love or hate it,and why you do! Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **CS.**_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

December X777

It had been nearly a week since the master left with Mira and Laxus for the Trial, meaning they should be back as late as tomorrow. Though Natsu didn't want to wait till tomorrow. He still had trouble getting Mira's face out of his head. The situation was making him pretty irate. Yet still people had the stones to poke fun at him, even after the display of strength not even a week ago. So there he sat, at the bar of the guild, face to the countertop with an interesting expression of annoyed, bored, and confused.

 _Staring up at Mirajane, she sat astride his waist after they had fallen. Staring into her eyes he noticed she had a slightly dazed look. Her face so close, now inching ever closer, and his heartbeat thumping harder the closer she got. When her sister, Lisanna spoke, the moment—whatever it had been—was broken._

"What's the matter lover boy? Miss your sweetheart already? She's barely been gone a week." Looking over Natsu can see the grinning faces of Macao, Wakaba and a number of other guild members.

"Shut up. What the Hell are you even talking about?" the pink haired boy grumbles.

"Come on, that's no way to talk to the man who taught you that fire whip trick that helped put Mira on the ground. Show a little respect for your elders."

"Well I suppose you are getting pretty old." Natsu agrees.

"I'm twenty-nine ya damn brat! I ain't old!"

"You just said you were my elder."

"That's not what it means!"

"Well it kind of does Macao." Wakaba cuts in, grinning like a fool.

"Shut up! Means your old too, you smokestack!"

One thing led to another and eventually the guild devolved into one their near famous brawls, tables breaking, chairs flying, the free-for-all was in full swing. Natsu himself ending up in the thick of it, forgetting about the feelings he hasn't been able to work through yet. During the battle, most of the members failed to notice the arrival of the master and company, or the short man's frustrated trembling. Finally after a short time the man's fuse ran down…

"You brats! I leave for a week and you can't _not_ try and destroy the guild!? Where the Hell is Erza? She usually takes care of these." Looking into the thick of it Makarov sets his sights on the 'eye of the storm' Natsu and Gray, the younger boy trying to take on the older, stronger boy, anyone who would look could see that it would only be a few short years before Gray would be able to go toe-to-toe with the Fire Dragon Slayer. But still, that is years away.

"Ha! I win Gray!" As the smaller boy is thrown into a few other guild members.

The now transformed guild master brought his giant foot down on Natsu. "That's enough you brats! It time to announce the results of the Trials."

The entire guild quiets down with that news, excitement is felt by all the guild members. Makarov, Mirajane, and Laxus made their way to the bar as a make-do stage of sorts. With the rest of the guild giving a respectable amount of space and showing the uncanny patience, Makarov looked around for a moment before speaking.

"Once again, I want to say how proud I am of all of you. It brings my heart joy to see such vibrant lights shining in this old hall. With that, I would like to introduce our newest S-Class wizard… Laxus Dreyar."

Applause were given with the announcement, Laxus even upturned his lips in a ghost of a smile.

Though Natsu, standing in the crowd noticed that Mirajane, though smiling, was seemed to be slightly forced. Congratulations went on for a few minutes before everyone began to back to whatever it was that they had been doing. Natsu watch as Mira had a few quiet words with her siblings before leaving the hall, leaving both Lisanna and Elfman with somber expressions.

' _Hmm, wonder what's going on?'_ The young Slayer thought as he also left the hall, following Mirajanes' scent after she was a distance from the hall. Natsu trailed the eldest **Take-Over** wizards' scent until it reached the edge of Magnolia. Continuing on he realized that she was most likely heading to their training ground where had been sparring with, and teaching writing and reading skills to him over the last six months. The sky was darkening as day gave way to night. As he neared the clearing he began to hear the impact of flesh against wood. The grunting of Mirajane came along with those impacts. Breaking the tree line, he watch Mira punching a tree with her un-augmented strength, her back to him.

He could now hear the near silent mumblings of 'dammit, dammit.' As she kept on hitting the tree. She stopped abruptly but didn't turn around.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"I wanted to see what was so much more fun than being at the hall partying." Natsu said, folding his hands behind his head.

Mirajane whipped around to looking at him, his face fell when he saw tears welling that hadn't fallen, "What the Hell is it to you!?"

Natsu frowned, taking in her appearance. Mirajane looked on the verge of tears and her hands were scrapped, looking raw and painful around her knuckles. "You're my family." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

This only seemed to anger the girl more, "Stop saying that! You said it before I left and I don't like it!"

"But you were the one who sai—"

"I know what I said!" She cuts him off, stalking toward him, "And now I'm telling you to stop!" she's now right in his face, staring him in the eye with her face flushed in what looks like anger.

"Why?" confusion clear in his tone.

"It doesn't matter 'why' I said 'stop!'" she punctuates with a shove.

"Mira—"

"Just leave me alone!" she bellows, taking on her **Satan Soul** she moves to strike him but freezes. She stares at him, one clawed hand raised. The sun had fallen completely by this point, Mira gave off an almost ethereal glow in spite of her demonic appearance.

Natsu could only stare back in awe, _'Wow, she's beautiful.'_

Her tears begin to fall as he stared. Before Natsu can say anything she flies straight up, then moves off into the dark.

"What was that?" Natsu asked no one as his hand went to his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart. _'Why do I feel like this whenever I see her? Why does it… hurt?'_

Natsu looked to the sky, unable to make out Miras' form in the inky darkness spotted by stars. Natsu could have tracked Mira down if he wished but, it seemed Mira didn't _want_ to see him. With nothing else, Natsu made his way back to the guild, heart feeling heavy and tight with his thoughts running through his mind. _'Why does it hurt so much?'_ he thought again.

~~NMNM~~

Makarov sat on the bar, mug in one hand and his staff in the other. He watched as his children made merry with the news of an S-Class wizard being chosen. _'Well, it's not like we don't find excuses to drink around here_ all _the time.'_ The old man chuckled to himself drinking as he kept an eye on the guild. Even though his face would say otherwise, he was not as happy as he would have liked. Young Mirajane had left the guild shortly after the announcement had been made, with a certain pink-haired wizard soon following.

It made his heart heavy to see any of his children unhappy. He felt their emotions as clearly as if they were his very own, the good and bad. He looking around the hall, seeing the smiling faces, the laughter coming from the members. He watched as Cana did a reading for little Lisanna, her brother Elfman sitting beside her, only interjecting when asked. Unlike the other two at the table, Elfman was surprisingly timid, almost like a balance to his siblings' outgoing natures.

Gray came and joined them as well, as he stood and spoke he just removed his clothes, not breaking stride in conversation. "Gray, your clothes." Was heard from Cana, and Gray freaked out over his undress. _'I wonder how that boy picked up that habit?'_ The Strauss siblings laughed at the predicament the young boy was in.

He looked around and saw many more faces, Macao and Wakaba talking about the past. He looked to a corner of the guild to see Reedus quietly sketching everyone in the hall, pleased smile across his face as he worked. Erza, though alone at the moment had a small smile on her face while eating some strawberry cheesecake. Much happiness permeated the hall, and through this, helped lift his spirits. _This is good.'_ A happy sigh escaped his lips, as his eyes fell to the guild doors, which were opening to reveal Natsu walking in. his pleased expression fell as he saw the somber expression on the young wizards' face.

Natsu locked eyes with Makarov and he knew that the boy wanted to speak. He waived him over, jumping off the bar as he walked toward his office. Walking into the office he left the door open knowing that Natsu was right on his heels. He motioned for Natsu to close the door after walked in and waited for Natsu to seat himself before doing the same.

Staring across his desk at the young man he waited to see if Natsu would start the conversation. After a minute of waiting Makarov decided he should start. "You look troubled my boy. What's wrong?" Makarov already had his suspicions of what it was, given that a certain Mirajane Straus had not returned to the guild herself.

"It's Mira." Natsu declared with a serious expression, "She's mad at me but I don't know why."

Makarov gestured for him to continue, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I followed her after she left. She seemed upset about something so wanted to see if she was okay. She was at our training ground, punching a tree. She seemed… mad that I was there, asking why I showed up. I told her that she's my family, but she got mad and told me not call her that. She flew away after that."

Makarov watched as different emotions crossed Natsu's face, anger, sadness, confusion, _longing?_

"I don't know what I did wrong Gramps." He said.

Makarov sighed at the nickname that had basically become his epithet within the guild. _'No respect anymore. But I think that this serious… depending who you ask.'_ He joked to himself. "Tell me, Natsu, what did you feel or better yet, how do you feel right now? Take your time and think about this."

Natsu crossed his arms and just sat there, eyes closed as his face took on a look of contemplation. This only affirmed to Makarov that whatever was going on was serious for the young wizard. In the few scant months that Natsu had been with the guild he had portrayed a 'wild child' persona. A trouble maker who wanted to have fun. Though like with everyone else in the guild, his actions were not malicious, just the actions of someone who wanted friends and attention.

Like most everyone who found there way to Fairy Tail, Natsu had past troubles which followed him to the guild. This didn't bother Makarov though, he believed that everyone who found his guild was meant to be here, to one day, move past the darkness that clutched at most of his children. As guild master he was happy, honored even, to stand by them until they could overcome and accept the past.

Makarov almost missed when Natsu finally spoke, lost in his own contemplation. "I… don't know." Natsu started lamely, "I don't understand what I'm feeling. When I see Mira I…" Natsu blushed. "I see how beautiful she is, even when she uses her **Take-Over** magic I see it. And then my heart starts… pounding, even when it shouldn't."

Natsu's face gains a pained expression, "And when she spoke to me tonight, she, she cried. And when she flew away, my heart… hurt. It hurts thinking about it Gramps. I don't know what's going on, Igneel never explained stuff like this before."

Makarov nodded in understanding. He thought he knew what was happening, at least on Natsus' end. Whether or not Mira was feeling the same and reacting to her emotions differently was something that he wouldn't know unless she spoke with him. "Do you know what attraction is Natsu?" Makarov asked simply.

"Um, like with magnets?" he ventured.

Makarov laughed, "That wasn't what I meant but I can use it to help explain since the basic meaning is the same. So, just like how certain metals are drawn to magnets because they bear the right characteristics people can be drawn to each other. Do you understand?"

Natsu placed his hand on his chest, looking down at himself, "I think so. I'm the metal and she's the magnet. Is that why I want to be around her? Attraction? I don't know what it means." He said with some confusion.

Makarov studied the young Slayers' expression, listening to what he _wasn't_ saying. "Natsu, do you know what 'love' is?"

Natsu looked up, thinking about it and shrugged after a moment. "Yeah, I think I do." Was his reply.

The master thought for a moment of how to really get Natsu to understand what he was trying say, something that he could relate with. It hit like a ton of bricks. "Tell me how you feel about Igneel." The master urged.

Natsu, caught a little off guard by question it seemed grinned at the prospect, "He's amazing. I don't really remember anything from before I met him but I was happy. He would play and laugh with me, teach me words and other stuff. I didn't have as much fun with that but he always took the time to make me laugh." His grin turned to a wistful smile, "I was so happy when he started teaching me magic. My chest felt like it swelled whenever he said 'good job' or 'I'm proud of you'. It was great."

Makarov smiled at the brief description, "It sounds like he loves you greatly." Makarov made sure to use present tense in his speech, Natsu focused on the 'love' statement. "So tell me, when you discovered that he was gone, how did it make you feel?"

Natsu frowned at that, Makarov felt guilty bringing up the memories of Natsu's wayward foster father, but it was the only thing he knew would stick. "I felt… cold. I still don't know why he left but my heart… like, like…"

"Like it does right now?" Makarov asked gently.

"Yeah, like it does right now." Natsu's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Makarov, "Mira?" he questioned with just her name.

Makarov tried to smile at him, "I can't decide that for you Natsu, it's something that you need to think about for yourself. Think of the love that you have for Igneel, and ask yourself, 'What would I feel if she left?' It's not really a fair comparison but… maybe it will help you. Also it's almost Christmas so maybe you could try and reconcile with her then?" he suggested.

Natsu looked confused, "What's Christmas?"

Makarov hadn't even thought of the idea that Natsu _wouldn't_ know about some of the more common holidays. _'Igneel must not have celebrated those kinds of days then.'_ Makarov just went with the flow, "It's basically a time when you and people you care for can get together and celebrate. The exchange of gifts is also common during the day. Christmas Day is the 25th of December, today is the 21st. I would recommend that you ask Lisanna if you can celebrate with them, since the three siblings usually celebrate at home. That girl can convince her sister to go along without almost anything." The master grinned at his deviousness.

Natsu nodded in determination, "Alright, I'll try and figure this out. Thank you Master." Natsu then left the office, leaving Makarov surprised with the use of his title. The old man just grinned and chuckled to himself, _'I hope thing work out for you both, you may not know it, but she's suffered greatly too my boy. She deserves to be happy as well.'_

~~NMNM~~

Natsu had followed master Makarovs' advice. He had asked Lisanna if he could spend Christmas with the Strauss siblings, he almost guaranteed it when he told her that he didn't know what Christmas was until he'd asked the master about it. Lisanna had then recruited Elfman in her quest to ensure Natsu had a happy Christmas with them. Being the shy guy that he was, Elfman was easy to sway. Lisanna had promised to talk with Mira about when they saw her at home.

Natsu had then began to think about his feelings toward the eldest Strauss girl, putting everything that he had learned and shared with her since his arrival half a year ago. He thought of how she annoyed him by referring to him as 'Pinky' with no end in sight. Of how she would utterly destroy him in their spars, and the torturous schooling that she would provide after said spars. How she would seem agitated around him for no reason.

But on the flip-side of all of those thoughts toward Mirajane, whenever she called him 'Pinky' it would be with a light grin in a jovial greeting that she rarely gave anyone except her siblings. But if he were honest with himself, he didn't really care that she called him 'Pinky' he only argued because it was what he had always done. Then with the spars, how she would explain how and why she did all the painful strikes, helping him improve as a fighter by an excellent margin. He still wasn't anywhere near her level though he begrudgingly admitted, but she helped him none-the-less. Or how she would sit with him and urge him to figure out how some sentences worked better than others, or how to express his pinon without sounding like a child all the time, he still acted like a child because it was fun but that was beside the point! Then with her agitated attitude she often had around him, even though she may have seemed like it, she _never_ abandoned him. She would do whatever it was they had agreed to and politely excuse herself only once they had finished for the day, sometime even offering that he come share supper with her siblings.

It was all confusing to the young Dragon Slayer. There were things that made him absolutely frustrated and angry with the girl, but he could think of a time that made him as happy with the exception of Igneel himself. Just thinking of the girl as someone that he might love made his stomach flutter strangely and his heart clench almost painfully. He realized that, that strange pain in his chest was pretty common, but he only experienced it when the 'Demon of Fairy Tail' wasn't around, or when he felt that he truly upset her.

That clenching feeling hadn't really left in the last few days. The reason being that Mira had been avoiding everyone but her siblings who only saw her at home. Lisanna had told Natsu that he was allowed to come over on Christmas Eve to celebrate and stay over for Christmas Day. Lisanna had, had to pull out her whole bags of ricks to convince Mira to agree but she had, begrudgingly.

Natsu spent the couple of days he had on finding presents for the three siblings since he would be with them for the two days. His thoughts were rampant but he knew his first goal was to get back in Mira's good graces. With all the thinking that he had done, he was sure that he had some real feelings for the young mage and wanted to repair the relationship they had before trying to go forward. He was quite scared over that thought, moving forward. He had no idea how to go about it, thinking that he would need to talk with the master or one of the other older wizards, embarrassment be damned. But first, make sure Mira didn't hate him.

~~NMNM~~

The days had passed and Natsu stood in front of the Strauss home, presents wrapped to the best of his ability (poorly) and a bundle of nerves. He had gone to Makarov again, since he was already aware of the Slayer's plight.

" _You don't want to come on too strong I don't think. Just try and be nice. Let her know that you know you upset her before, apologize. Just make her happy. If she decides to open up about what happened, all the better, just don't push her."_ Makarov had stressed the day before _._

Natsu sighed thinking of the advice, "Thanks for the advice. Hope this works." Natsu mumbled to himself. Natsu had decided it would be best to dress nicely, so he'd spent some of the saved Jewels from his jobs to get a nice outfit, a high collared jacket and pants in a matching dark blue. The jacket was open showing off a simple black tee-shirt. "Well, here goes everything."

Natsu knocked, waiting for the door to open.

 _ **A/N: Alright, not too sure how I wanna go about the next bit. Should I try and resolve things between Christmas and New Year's? Or attempt something closer to natural? I honestly wanna get through the year's before canon because all my little plot bunnies are stuck in the future of the story and I want to be there now! (Stupid plot progression). Tell me if you like it or hate it, I want to know why either way. Thanks for reading!**_

 ** _CS._**


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